


Elder Scrolls Lore Notes

by teshtani



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Elder Scrolls Lore, Notes, Theories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2019-10-15 20:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17535269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teshtani/pseuds/teshtani
Summary: Notes related to lore, and theories, referenced inNot Drake but Jill.





	1. Mythopoeic Recreation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How did five hundred Nords defeat the Snow Elves?  
> And why was the Dragon Cult of Tamriel so brutal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theory time!

I actually answer these questions in Act 2 of Not Drake but Jill  but the answers are spread out across a couple chapters so I thought I’d condense them here.

 

** How did 500 Nords defeat the Snow Elves? **

The Nords defeating the Snow Elves is supper impressive as the Snow Elves had magic and the 500 didn’t have the Voice yet, right? 

1\.  Well, no, the Emblems on the 7000 Steps are misleading.* Ysgramor was, quite clearly, capable of Shouting as were several of his companions listed in “The Five Hundred Mighty Companions or Thereabouts of Ysgramor the Returned*”, as are a fair few of the draugrfied dragon-cultists the Last Dragonborn encounters throughout the game.  So Kyne’s gift of the Voice to men was clearly _not_ in response to the tyranny of the Dragon Cult.  Claiming that it was is probably historic revisionism on the part of the Greybeards who worship Kyne.

2\.  The 500 Companions were already dragon worshipers.

_Well, duh.  Atmora was ruled by dragons.  Everyone knows that._

But, I didn’t say they _served_ dragons I said they _worshiped_ them.  The placement of dragon priest knife in Ysgramor’s Tomb indicates the transition of the dragons from feudal lords to god-kings was already present in the belief structure of the 500 Companions.  Perhaps that is why they were willing to leave Atmora to help Ysgramor as it would allow them to colonize new territory and build a religious state.*

Furthermore Kurt Kuhlmann has stated that: 

> If Ysgramor was indeed a “dragon”, most likely he was a Dragon Priest - in the Late Merethic Era, it would be unlikely for a leader of Ysgramor’s reported stature to be unconnected to the Dragon Cult. (Kurt Kuhlmann, Ysgramor is a dragon?*)

So there you go.  Also, have you seen Ysgramor’s statue’s armor?  It has “I want to look like a dragon” written all over it.  _Especially_ the helmet.*

 

3\.   _Still, 500 Shouting Nords against an entire race of elves is pretty unbelievable, right?_

If they had done it alone, it would be.  They didn’t. Dragons accompanied the Nord war bands and raiding parties.

_Then there should be evidence of Dragons killing Snow Elves._

And there is!  If you visit the Forgotten Vale before completing Dragon Rising, Voslaarum and Naaslaarum will not spawn, indicating that they are actually dead at the bottom of the lake but, after Dragon Rising, Alduin has seen fit to fly out there and revive them.  A quick look around the lake (after killing them yourself) indicates both that the Snow Elves fought them ([Image1](https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4868/46242870424_a661334dfb_b.jpg)) and that slaying the dragons came at great cost ([Image2](https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7846/32026360657_4f4b7f71f5_b.jpg)).  Furthermore, given the way the Dragon Cult worked out, it is pretty obvious you’d edit being on the dragons’ side out of the stories about your folk heroes.

> But connecting the Nord hero Ysgramor with the now-reviled Dragon Cult is of course anathema to those who favor chauvinism over historical truth. (Kurt Kuhlmann, Ysgramor is a dragon?)

_Okay, so, what, aside from explaining how it would be possible for 500 people to destroy a whole nation, indicates that dragons were actually involved in the raiding parties?_

**Mythopoeic recreation.**   But lets address the next question before I explain that.

 

 ** Why was the Dragon Cult of Tamriel so brutal? ** 

> In Atmora, where Ysgramor and his people came from, the dragon priests demanded tribute and set down laws and codes of living that kept peace between dragons and men.  In Tamriel, they were not nearly as benevolent. It’s unclear if this was due to an ambitious dragon priest, or a particular dragon, or a series of weak kings.  Whatever the cause, the dragon priests began to rule with an iron fist, making virtual slaves of the rest of the population. (Skyrim, Book: The Dragon War)

So what really happened?  

> "Alduin… claimed for himself the lordship that properly belongs to… our father Akatosh." – Paarthurnax.

Alduin grew tired of simply being a feudal lord over man and sought to become a god.  Alduin was, arguably, already a god.  But we are told he sought to take Akatosh’s place.  Assuming that this is meant literally, how could such a thing be achieved? Again, **Mythopoeic recreation.**

By recreating the circumstances under which the Nord pantheon transcended from being the leaders of the Wandering Ehlnofey to being Gods, Alduin, and seven other dragons, could – conceivably – go from being leaders of the Nords (the children of the Wandering Ehlnofey) to being gods.  Or, in Alduin’s case, being the god he wanted to be rather than the one he was?

 

**Lets talk it through:**

1\.  In the Mythic Era there were 10 Nord gods, 9 dragon priest masks, and 8 dragon priests (individual cults).

> Gods: 1) Akatosh, 2) Alduin, 3) Dibella, 4) Orkey, 5) Tsun, 6) Mara, 7) Stuhn, 8) Kyne, 9) Jhunal and 10) Shor.

Since Alduin sought to replace Akatosh we end up with 9 gods and 9 dragon priest masks suggesting that it wasn’t _just_ Akatosh the dragons were attempting to replace but the entire Nord Pantheon.    
  


2\.  There may have been 9 masks but there were only 8 priests, indicating that there were only 8 dragons being worshiped as the gods they sought to replace.The mask that was not being worn by a priest was Konahrik “warlord”.  Assuming that the mask names relate to the god the priest is serving this mask would belong to the priest of dragon replacing Shor.  Shor, traditionally, had no cult.  So having a dragon replace Him would not have worked.  
 

3\.   _If there was no cult of Shor why have a mask?_

Because Shor’s presence was necessary for recreating the events of the Ehlnofey Wars.  
  


4\.  If _His presence was necessary for the recreation, and no dragon – or dragon priest – could play the part, how did Alduin expect the recreation to work?_

To begin with, symbolically. Shor is the god of Man.  Mankind, therefore, could become Shor’s replacement until a better representative became available.  The reason Skyrim’s Dragon Cult was so abusive is because the pain of the worshipers was needed to mimic the pain of the dead god.  
  


5\.  A _better representative?_

This is where the actual mechanics of mythopoeic recreation come into play.  Mythopoeic recreation is about recreating a known set of events (a “pattern” within creation) in order to achieve the same results as the original event. 

With mythopoeic enchantment of an object – like Kagrenac’s tools – the event(s) can be recreated symbolically.  The stronger the symbols used the stronger the enchantment.  But the dragons were pretty literally recreating the events they wanted to echo.  Make the pattern recreation strong enough and the pattern could self-complete.  All the dragons had to do was keep doubling down on the beginning part of the pattern and, eventually, the world would be forced to provide the being required to wear Konahrik and play the roll of Shor. Theoretically.  
  


6\.  In order to recreate the Ehlnofey Wars – after which the Nord Pantheon became gods – the dragons needed to lead men into battle against mer (as Kyne and Shor had done).  So the dragons continuously stoked Nord hatred for elves and lead them to war against the Snow Elves.  Which is how the Snow Elf civilization was destroyed even before the beginning of the Dragon War.  
  


7\.  Wouldn’t _Alduin (as Akatosh) have needed to, eventually, rip some great warlord’s heart out to complete the recreation?_

Yes.  Again, not possible with a fellow dragon, they just aren’t built like that.  Which is another reason they needed the world to supply a person to wear Konahrik.  
 

8. _So why didn’t it work?_

It did… to a point. You see the dragons weren’t attempting a _perfect_ mythopoeic recreation, as a perfect recreation would have had them, and their worshipers, retreating to Atmora in defeat, which they didn’t want to do.  The place was in the process of becoming a barren ice sheet after all.  So the dragons attempted to alter their recreation slightly so that men, not mer, would be the ones left in control of Tamriel.

The pattern resulted in someone who could wear Konahrik (Miraak).  But the changes made to the pattern – meant to give the dragons and mankind dominion over Tamriel – resulted in a pattern the end of which was that Shor’s representation (Miraak) would slay Akatosh’s representation (Alduin) rather than the other way around.  Ooops!

Not only did Alduin not approve but, for the pattern to compete, He would need to be killed within the realm of Nirn – an impossibility (as the Last Dragonborn discovers).

So Hermaeus Mora got involved, Miraak ended up in Apocrypha, Alduin got Elder Scrolled into the future, and the pattern failed to complete...  Sort of.  
  


9\.  The Nords, unaware of what the dragons had really been up to, continued their portion of the mythopoeic recreation by finishing off the Snow Elves.  Meaning enough of the pattern was still in play that the next time a “real moment*” rolled around the pattern was still strong enough to conjure myth-echoes of both Akatosh (Alessia) and Lorkhan (Pelinal Whitestrake). 

Pelinal Whitestrake’s dismemberment finally completes the pattern and men become the rulers of Tamriel as the dragons (sort of) intended.

 

The moral of this story is: even Alduin shouldn’t play with mythopoeic forces!

 

So there you go, my theory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Got to love TES use of unreliable narrators.
> 
> * e.g. “Hammer of Caskets, who left his rowing to reaver topside, spilling the wine-hold of the Gore Use and then shouted it aflame…” [Link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/five-hundred-mighty-companions-or-thereabouts-ysgramor-returned)
> 
> * There are absolutely no parallels to the colonization of North America. I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that. ;-p
> 
> * [Ysgramore is a dragon?](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/kurt-kuhlmann-posts)
> 
> * [Image of Statue](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/elderscrolls/images/a/ad/Statue_of_Ysgramor.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131112041939)
> 
> * See chapter three of this work for an explanation for the concept of “real moments”.


	2. Breaking the Twelve Worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A note on the "breaking of the twelve worlds" as seen in the Tsaesci creation myth and in the variously titled Anuad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Tsaesci Creation Myth ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/tsaesci-creation-myth-and-we-ate-it-become-it))  
> The Anuad ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/annotated-anuad))
> 
> The breaking of the worlds is briefly mentioned in Not Drake, but Jill: Act 2, chapter 30. ([link](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462264/chapters/42400061))

Since I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to this facet of TES lore, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge both an impressive piece of world building, on the part of the author of both pieces (Michael Kirkbride), and the real world philosophy that inspired it: Basilides of Alexandria’s teachings on the “breaking of the vessels.” 

While Basilides’ teachings were relatively mainstream, in the later half of the second century CE, only small fragments of his more than two dozen books, and the writings of his detractors, have survived into the modern era.  Which is what makes him, and his work, relatively obscure today, even though his philosophy was fairly influential at one point.  It is, therefor, not particularly surprising that the Tsaesci creation myth and the Anuad seem to draw their versions of the “breaking of the vessels”, not directly from Basilides’ himself, but from two different historical sources influenced by his teachings.  While the relevant parts of the Tsaesci myth resemble an Orphic creation myth most fully recounted – I believe – in one of the Pseudo-Clementine Writings (again written by their detractors) the chaotic flavor of the world that was created from the pieces of the twelve broken worlds, in the Anuad, suggest a version of the concept more closely related to the one found in Lurianic Kabbalism.  In this way we have two real world historical perspectives, on the same philosophical concept, represented in TES lore.  Pretty cool huh?

Why this is actually important to TES: the Thalmor (obviously).

The issue of the Anuad, as with all religious text, is one of interpretation.  While Basilides (c120 CE) may have believed that the spiritual essence, released from the broken – celestial – vessels, was the mortal soul and its inclusion in our world – the sub-lunar world of matter – created all living beings, and the 3rd century CE Orphics may have suggested that the divine substance of our souls was simply present (like oil soaked into a clay container) in the pieces of the broken celestial vessels that were used to create the earth, Lurianic Kabbalism (mid 16th century CE) contends that the broken pieces of the celestial vessels were not used to create the earth but the world of evil ( _Sitra Achra_ ).

It is conceivable then that the Thalmor of the 4th era have come to interpret their own creation myth, as presented in the Anuad, as depicting Nirn as literal hell and the elves as celestial beings stranded on Nirn by mistake.  An interpretation that would, in turn, lead to the possible understanding of TES elves in terms of fallen angel myth and, the Thalmor lead Altmer specifically, in terms of those myths in which the fallen angels are willing to destroy all of creation to return to heaven.

Well done, Michael Kirkbride.  That is a truly _epic_ piece of world building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I get a cookie? 0.0


	3. Real Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why did the Elder Scrolls in the Imperial collection vanish in 4E 175?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theory time!

Researching the question of disappearing Elder Scrolls I came across the following in one of Michael Kirkbride’s IRC Q&A Sessions.  In answer to the question: “What’s with all the musical connotations behind Elder Scrolls?” MK answer wrote: 

> Tamriel. Starry Heart.  That whole fucking thing is a song…  
>  There are repeats in it; plays on a tune.  Variations. And most likely Magnus?  He’s the one that made the fucker, and now that’s why he looks back on it, every single day, that’s his promise.  
>  “When you wake up, I will still listen.  I’m sorry I left, but hey, I’m still right up here.  And my mnemoli?  They show up every now and then, and collect all the songs you’ve made since the last time around.  The last real moment.”  
>  The Mnemoli? They’re the keepers of the Elder Scrolls.  They [the Elder Scrolls] cannot be fixed until seen.  And they cannot be seen until a moment.  And you, your hero, makes that moment.” ([MK October 13th](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/michael-kirkbride-irc-qa-sessions))

The Mnemoli, we know from texts in TESIV: Oblivion, are part of a group of Magna-Ge known as the “Star Orphans”. 

> …the “Star Orphans” [are the] gods and heroes and demons that live between creations, which can include those reality-bending burps known as Dragon Breaks.  Think of them as the all-stars between kalpas, if that helps.  (That probably doesn't help at all, really.)  ([MK: On the Mnemoli](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/forum-archives-michael-kirkbride))

The mnemoli are also the “keepers of the Elder Scrolls”.  Which means they must occasionally come into real-time to collect the “songs you’ve made since the last time around”. 

 

But what are they collecting, exactly?

Urag gro-Shub tells the Last Dragonborn that an Elder Scroll, “is a reflection of all possible futures and all possible pasts.”  Which is another way of saying an Elder Scroll stores, or reflects, all possible variations, and refrains, of the music that is Tamriel.  So when the mnemoli collect “songs” they’re collecting Elder Scrolls (as “keepers” of the Elder Scrolls probably should).

 

But what is meant by “the songs you’ve made”?

There are two types of Elder Scrolls or, more accurately, Elder Scrolls have two phases: unwritten and written.

> When taken in this context, to “write an Elder Scroll” is “to make history”.  
>  A deeper meaning is meant, too, but not very many laymen bother with that.  Until a prophecy is fulfilled, the true contents of an Elder Scoll are malleable, hazy, uncertain.  Only by the Hero’s action does it become True.  The Hero is literally the scribe of the next Elder Scroll, the one in which the prophecy has been fulfilled into a fixed point, negating its precursor. (MK Post, [Writing the Elder Scrolls (08/27/10)](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/forum-archives-michael-kirkbride))

An unwritten Elder Scroll contains prophecy and visions of what might be and what might have been while a written Elder Scroll is a truthful and completely unbiased recounting of something that has happened.  “Songs you’ve made” would, then, probably be the _written_ Elder Scrolls.  Meaning that, every so often, there’s a “real moment” and the mnemoli retrieve all the Elder Scrolls written since the last “real moment”. 

 

But what is a “real moment”?

> “They [the Elder Scrolls] cannot be fixed until seen. And they cannot be seen until a moment.  And you, your hero, makes that moment.”

A hero makes a moment, which allows the writing on an Elder Scroll to become visible and fixed.  Obviously this moment is the moment in which the hero completes the content of the Elder Scroll.  But the “moment” an Elder Scroll is written is not the same as a “real moment” as, if it were, that would mean the mnemoli collect only one scroll at a time, which is clearly not the case as they are said to “collect all the songs” written since their last visit.  So the writing of an Elder Scroll does not, in itself, create a “real moment”.

Lets see if we can’t answer the question by working backwards to it. 

 

We know the entire Imperial Collection of Elder Scrolls vanished in 4E 175.  But was the disappearance of the Imperial collection due to the mnemoli?

The Moth Priest Dexion Evicus tells the Last Dragonborn that the Elder Scrolls were “scattered across Tamriel by forces unknown”.  He further states that not many have been found in the last 26 years.  He seems to think this is because people don’t want to give them up, or because the scrolls themselves don’t want to be found yet, but I wonder… 

While the Elder Scrolls were clearly taken from the collection by “forces unknown” were they really “scattered across Tamriel”?  No scroll the Last Dragonborn interacts with in TESV: Skyrim was ever part of the Imperial collection.*  So, as far as we know, no Elder Scroll from the Imperial collected ended up in the province of Skyrim.  If a Tamriel based group, like the Psijics or the Thalmor, had stolen them I think we’d have heard _something_ about it.*

It seems likely to me that the “forces unknown” was, indeed, the mnemoli.  But the mnemoli are only supposed to be interested in the _written_ scrolls.  So how did the mnemoli enter real-time and where did all the unwritten scrolls go?

 

Mnemoli in Real-Time?

A tiny dragon break?  Localized  _inside_ the White-Gold Tower?  Given what the Towers are, not likely.  And if Michael Kirkbride had meant “dragon break” he probably would have said so. If not a dragon break, then what?

 

Taking a step back we realize that Akatosh created a new dragonborn at about the same time as the disappearance of the Elder Scrolls meaning that He too was active in the world without an obvious dragon break occurring.  So maybe “real moments” are actually extended periods of real-time where, for one reason or another, reality is malleable enough that gods and daedra can interfere more directly than usual?  To test this theory we should take a look at other times in Tamrielic history that might fit that description.

Two of the other times Aedra may have directly intervened in history (only two because I’m trying to keep this short):

  1. The Dragon War 
    * Kyne’s gift of the Voice (questionable)
    * Akatosh’s creation of Miraak
  2. Alessian Slave Rebellion 
    * Kyne sent Morihaus
    * Alessia became dragonborn
    * The jill sent Pelinal Whitestrake from the future  
Yes, really. I will try to explain it elsewhere. 



Pelinal Whitestrake is of particular interest to this as, in response to the question: “Why are so many robots traveling back in time (Pelinal, KINMUNE)?”  Michael Kirkbride answered:  “They come back to ‘fix’ the future.  The Jills have to work overtime.”* Michael Kirkbride’s response indicates that these attempts by the gods and jill were meant to affect not a single event but the actual _trajectory_ of history.  His answer re-categorizes the Dragon War and the Alessian Slave Rebellion as occurring during extended periods of time in which future history is being contested.  Something about that period of time has allowed for a wider range of reality bending shenanigans, like time traveling robots or Elder Scroll theft by star-gods from un-time.*  This, I believe, is what Michael Kirkbride referred to as a “real moment."

 

If, during a “real moment” the mnemoli take all the written Elder Scrolls, where did the _unwritten_ Elder Scrolls go? 

If the current trajectory of events indicates the end of the kalpa has begun, would not the “keepers of the Elder Scrolls” take them _all_ for safekeeping?  Perhaps, once Alduin is defeated, they will return them.

 

** To recap: **

**Mnemoli** are a group of star-gods from un-time who are the keepers of the Elder Scrolls.  They come into real-time to take the Elder Scrolls that have been “written” since the last “real moment”.  Their latest visit to real-time was first noticed in 4E 175 when the entire Imperial collection of Elder Scrolls went missing.  The mnemoli are only able to visit real-time during “real moments”. 

 **Real Moments** are times in which the trajectory of all of history can be changed.  They are characterized by: increased involvement of the Aedra in current events, the possibility of extra-Conventional beings entering/affecting real-time, and displacement of objects in time (time travel).

 

Do the events of TESV: Skyrim take place during a “real moment”?

1\.  The Dragon War

  * Kyne’s gift of the Voice
  * Akatosh’s creation of Miraak
  * Alduin is sent forward in time



Purpose: to prevent the dragons mantling the Nord gods*?

 

2\.  Alessian Slave Rebellion

  * Kyne sent Morihaus
  * Alessia became dragonborn
  * The jill sent Pelinal Whitestrake from the future



Purpose: to prevent the rise of the Ayleid Hegemony*?

 

3\.  The Dragon Crisis

  * Missing Elder Scrolls
  * Last Dragonborn
  * Alduin’s return
  * The “Eye of Magnus”



Purpose: to prevent the early end of the kalpa.

 

So, my theory, is that the events of Skyrim occur during a “real moment”.  The “real moment” will probably end with the defeat of Alduin.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * The Elder Scroll: Sun, was buried with Serana in the 2nd Era. The Elder Scroll: Blood, was found in the Soul Cairn, where it has been since the 2nd Era. And the Elder Scroll: Dragon was found in a Dwemer reading machine.
> 
> * I don’t think the Thalmor would have been able to stop being smug about it if it had been them.
> 
> * [Michael Kirkbride - Reddit AMA](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/michael-kirkbride-reddit-ama)
> 
> * Seriously, the things one writes when trying to discuss TES lore: “Elder Scroll stealing star-gods from un-time”. *face-palm*
> 
> * My theory. See my work Elder Scrolls Lore Notes, [Mythopoeic Recreations](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17535269/chapters/41316443)
> 
> * [KINMUNE](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/kinmune)


	4. Lycanthropy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My understanding of Lycanthropy in TES.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I’ve tried to include the information ESO has added to this subject, but ESO can be a bit hard to keep up with, so if I’ve missed something important please let me know.  
> (As of 02/18/2019)

What is Lycanthropy?

In TES Lycanthropy occurs when an individual becomes the physical host for one of Hircine’s beast-spirits.  Specifically, the events of the Companion’s questline in TESV: Skyrim, indicate that the beast-spirit does not attach itself to the _body_ of its host, but to the soul, as death, the soul’s separation from the body, does not separate the individual from the beast-spirit.

We also know that lycanthropy is not a disease but a daedric curse, or blessing, and so is not affected by “cure disease” effects and that it is Hircine’s method of claiming souls.*

 

What are the Affects of Lycanthropy?

The host gains unnatural speed, strength, and endurance, but the personality of the host is also affected. While “Living with Lycanthropy” counsels that it is necessary to practice restraint against the fury and hunger that come with the “blessing” of lycanthropy, not everyone’s will seems to be strong enough to maintain such restraint indefinitely, especially when alone.* But it is not just the hunger, the call of the hunt, or the sudden fury, that the lycanthrope experiences due to the addition of a beast-spirit to their soul.  An excerpt from journal-type entries of “The Pack of Archon’s Grove” indicates a broader impact on the reasoning of a lycanthrope than might be assumed from the Companion’s questline.

> Speaking of gaining numbers, I’m glad our den mother is finally listening to reason.  We need to strengthen our pack, and the only way to do that is through force.  There are few here who would freely accept our blessing.  Capturing and turning travelers may be risky, but we must fortify our numbers in case of attack. (The Pack of Archon’s Grove, ESO)

The language used, in the above quotation, indicates that the wolf-spirit is playing a significant role not only in this set of decisions but in defining the situation of a reduced “pack” size as a problem that needs fixing even if it is by force. 

It is this _exact_ issue that causes Skjor and Aela to go against Kodlak and initiate the dragonborn.  A choice that suggest that the Companions greater control over _when_ they change hasn’t lessened the impact of the beast-spirit on their reasoning.

 

What do we know about Beast Spirits?

  1. They originate from the Hircine’s realm in Oblivion, which means they are daedra.
  2. Their connection to a soul allows Hircine to claim it.
  3. They always take animal form.



Yep, that’s pretty much it.

 

What do we know about Daedra?

They are the natural denizens of the Oblivion realms, of which, broadly speaking, there are two “functional” types:

> Lord Fa-Nuit-Hen says, “…In common with the greater Princes, my realm of Maelstrom and myself are indistinguishable — my pocket reality is a projection of my mind, nature, and will… There are [also] physical realms, such as Infernace, home of the flame atronachs, that exist as collective extensions of their numerous, less-powerful inhabitants.  (Lore Master’s Archive: Q&A, Oct 19, 2015)

From this one can extrapolate that those daedra – like atronachs or dremora – that serve multiple princes originate in realms organized by collective will. They are autonomous beings oath-bound* to the service of a prince.  While those daedra native to the realm of a daedric prince are – literally – manifestations of that prince’s thoughts.*  Hircine’s beast-spirits, as we lack any example of them serving other princes, most likely fall into this second category.

 

How sapient is a lesser daedra?

Assessing a daedra’s intelligence isn’t easy.  We are told that atronachs are “highly intelligent” while scamps and spider daedra are only “semi-intelligent”,* which means that simply being humanoid, or not, doesn’t relate to the relative intelligence of a daedra.

The author of “The Insatiable” would have us believe that:

> Daedra are creatures of purpose.  They embody a need to be fulfilled. (The Insatiable, ESO)

In some ways this simply reiterates Lord Fa-Nuit-Hen’s description of what an Oblivion Realm is or Lyranth the Foolkilller’s assertion that:

> In Oblivion, order and hierarchy are wrested from the roil of chaotic creatia by the imposition of the will of the mover.*  
>  (Lyranth the Foolkiller, Q&A)

So, it would seem, those types of daedra native to the realm of a daedric prince - as manifestations of a daedric prince’s organizing principles for his realm - would each fill an ecological niche within that realm and be the embodiment of the need to fulfill the requirements of that niche.  Their level of sentience/sapience would, likely, be only that required to fulfill their purpose and their free will would likely be close to nonexistent as they are literally part of the prince’s mind. On the other hand those daedra native to realms made real through collective will would likely range from bestial to highly intelligent, depending on species, but all of them, by definition, would exhibit free will.

 

How sapient is a beast-spirit?

Beast-spirits, as far as we know, are native to Hircine’s Hunting Grounds.  As such they are fragments of Hircine’s mind and so lack free will.  Similarly their level of intelligence would depend upon how much intelligence is necessary for them to fulfill their job of claiming souls for Hircine.  So how much intelligence is required to change a person into a man-beast bound, forever, to the Hunting Grounds?

As of the date I wrote this I am unaware of any direct evidence of the intelligence of beast-spirits without a host.  On the other hand we know that the feral instincts and physical attributes of the beast-spirit are passed on to their host.  So, logically, if the beast-spirits are fully sapient beings, capable of reasoning and judgment, you’d expect their sapience to be added to that of their host in the same way that their instincts are.

But the lycanthropes of TES show very little awareness of anything but the emotional instability their condition causes.  Never in the literature, or game play, is it suggested that they recognize that there is some non-human logic at play in the concept of forcing people to drink your blood in order to be better friends. Or that converting the unwilling might lead to unfortunate group dynamics within their “packs”.

If anything the lycanthropes of TES are  _profoundly_  lacking in self-awareness of everything up to and including their own shift in vocabulary.  The author of the “Pack of Archon’s Grove” missive actually indicates that, though the pack does not need to fear competition from other packs, the member’s overwhelming need to strengthen their pack has actually driven their “den mother” to allow them to forcefully recruit travelers.  An action utterly opposed to the rational, reasoned, earlier statement that playing it smart will keep them safe and out of the public eye. Forcefully recruiting people is _not_ playing it smart and so I can only assume that their beast-spirits are immune to that sort of reasoning.  It would also seem that the logical reasoning of the lycanthrope will, with time, be overwhelmed by the needs of the beast-spirit and they may not even be aware of a shift in their priorities or that their werewolf actions run counter to their stated – more human - goals.

Based on this I would submit that the beast-spirits have instinct, and basic sentience, but are in no way sapient and that the lycanthrope cannot truly communicate with their beast-spirit in any constructive fashion.  (No matter how much fun that trope is for adding angst.) 

 

Conclusion

Hircine’s beast-spirits are mind-altering soul-parasites from Oblivion that are, quite literally, tiny parts of Hircine’s mind.

 

 

Side Note: The Circle

It is interesting that the slide of the Archon’s Grove werewolf pack, away from standard cultural modes of thought and action, is not observed in the Companions.  But the Companions have something the Archon’s Grove pack does not: non-lycanthrope pack members.  My reading of TES lore would suggest that lycanthropes, even in groups, without non-lycanthropes around to provide normalizing social pressure, will fail to notice how many of the givens upon which their reasoning is built have been altered by the addition of the beast-spirit to their soul.  The members of the Circle, unlike the members of the Archon’s Grove pack, remain fairly human because the rest of the Companions are around to call them out on any unusual behavior.

 

 

 

For a real world example of mind altering parasites (yes, they exist) consider toxoplasmosis.  (Warning: toxoplasmosis is a fairly disturbing, and surprisingly widespread, condition.  You have been warned.  [Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yKJPKzplEE))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Note from a Glenmoril Witch, TESIII: Morrowind
> 
> * See [A Werewolf’s Confession](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/werewolfs-confession)
> 
> * [Spirit of the Daedra](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/spirit-daedra)
> 
> * [Lore Master’s Archive](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/loremasters-archive-qa): Q&A, Oct 19, 2015 
> 
> * [Varieties of Daedra](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/varieties-daedra-0)
> 
> * “mover” (aka the Active Intellect): philosophical technical term(s), widely used but first found in Aristotle, meaning “the thing by which all other things are formed”. Used here to indicate the mind/will that created an Oblivion realm and all the “vestiges” there in.  
> Not to be confused with the “Prime Mover” who would be the entity whose mind/will created the entire Arubis. (Yes, that exists too. Look up “Amaranth” in the Imperial Library if you’re interested.)


	5. Sanguine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let’s talk about Sanguine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First some review, then some theory, and then some real world stuff that has informed my treatment of the daedric prince of debauchery.

**Sanguine’s Realm**  
Mind aflame, loin afire, illicit pleasure to seek  
From under the bed, Lord Sanguine doth peek  
To inspire perversions in the wild and meek  
Tales of taboos of which virgins blush to speak  
The wild rose blooms, perfumes in the burbling creek  
The petals, the stem, and the thorns’ painful preek.  
([Mad God’s Masque and Bellicose Ball](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/mad-gods-masque-and-bellicose-ball))

Sanguine’s sphere of influence is said to be the “passionate indulgence of darker natures”1 though I think it might be better summed up as being “all the activities a person might choose over self-preservation”.  Which is why, when dealing with Sanguine, you are your own worst enemy.  Sanguine does not trick people, like Clavicus Vile, or force people to do things, like Molag Bal, he simply offers them the opportunity to do all the things they’ve always fantasized about but have been prevented from doing by societal norms. Whether they take the opportunity he offeres is up to them.2  Equally what a person does, while in the Realms of Revelry, is _entirely_ on them.

> “Sanguine grants his guests considerable latitude for personal customization, as each mini-realm can be refashioned to meet the needs and desires of its visitants.  It is in Sanguine’s nature to indulge the natures of others… so to Sanguine, ‘absolute control’ is anathema.” ([Lord Fa-Nuit-Hen and Tutor Riparius Answer Your Questions (2)](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/lord-fa-nuit-hen-and-tutor-riparius-answer-your-questions-2), October 30th, 2015)

To Sanguine _any_ sort of control is anathema. That’s the point, after all.  In the Realms of Revelry no one is controlling you or telling you what you can and cannot do.

As a result I feel that Sanguine, in all likelihood, considers himself to be a _mostly_ benevolent force.3  If someone is unhappy with the outcome of the time they’ve spent in the Realms of Revelry, Sanguine would probablely _not_ consider himself responsible as they, not he, were – at least notionally – the one making their own decisions every step of the way. It’s not his fault if they don’t know when to stop.  Right?

Sanguine may see himself as “mostly benevolent” but is he realy?4

> “Sanguine is the Daedric Prince of debauchery and dark passions.  In his demesne, the revelry never ends – but it is a place where all pleasure is mixed with malice.” (Loading Screen, ESO)

By “malice” I believe the above quote means to signify not necessarily evil intent towards the world in general but a very specific interest to cause harm to particular individuals.  In-games evidence indicates that one way to become a target of this ill intent is by thinking yourself above his revelries.  Such people can find themselves the target of everything from pranks (Countess Alessia Caro in TES IV: Oblivion) to permanent enthrallment (Aldmeri spies in ESO, who, given where they were and what they were doing, should have seen it coming).  But the case of the conjurers in Morvunskar, during “A Night to Remember”, paints a somewhat darker – but far more interesting – picture of Sanguine’s intent.

Naris the Wicked was an Altmer necromancer found roasting people alive in the depths of Morvunskar. The conversation the dragonborn can overhear, between two lesser conjurers working at the Morvunskar forge, clearly indicates that the group has fallen under the influence of Sanguine.5  Their dialogue further tells us that, even without seeing Naris’ reaction to the “experiments” for themselves, his fellow conjurers are willing to bet that Naris is getting “a kick out of it”.  The rest of the conversation suggests that the conjurers are beginning to realize that Naris is enough of a monster that even they – necromancer outcasts – are becoming uncomfortable with him.  From this we may conclude that contact with Sanguine has intensified Naris’ particularly nasty perversion to a potentially unsustainable level. 

Needless to say the dragonborn will have to slaughter _most_ , if not all, of the coven if they are to make it to the portal to the Misty Grove.  But when they reach Sanguine he doesn’t even mention the dragonborn’s wholesale slaughter of the coven under his thrall, almost as if the dragonborn killing the group of conjurers was simply assumed or, possibly, even Sanguine’s true purpose for putting the portal to the Misty Grove in Morvunskar in the first place.

Oddly enough “A Night to Remember” is not the only time a daedric prince fails to react, or reacts in an odd manner, to their worshipers being wiped out by the Last Dragonborn.

  * Boethiah – demands that the dragonborn kill the rest of the violent psychopaths worshiping at her shrine as part of proving yourself worthy of being her champion.
  * Clavicus Vile – thanks the dragonborn for fulfilling the wish of his worshipers in an ironic fashion.
  * Hircine – enjoys it if the dragonborn turns the hunt ‘inside out’ because, whatever else they are, his cultists, just like his man-beasts, are still prey.
  * Mehrunes Dagon – orders the dragonborn to kill Silus (only worshiper of his revealed in-game) as “he, and his family, have served their purpose.”
  * Namira – appears to completely ignore the death of her cultists.
  * Peryite – actually sends the last dragonborn out to kill a renegade priest and his followers.
  * Sanguine – doesn’t feel it worth mentioning that the dragonborn killed a lot of, frankly, bad people getting to him even though they were apparently under his thrall at the time.
  * Vaermina – of the daedric quest that include killing the prince’s worshipers, Vaermina is the only one who seems annoyed, but focuses her anger on the priest that betrayed her rather than on the dragonborn.



Surely if the princes gain the souls of their followers upon death (which they do), and the more souls their realm houses the more powerful they are6, then the princes would want their cultists to live long enough to go out and convert others.  So why would a prince actively encourage someone to kill their followers?  Would they be as pleased if _any_ of their followers were killed or did they only have it in for the specific group they induce the dragonborn to interact with?  My best guesses are as follows:

  * Boethiah – probably willing to sacrifice every single one of her cultists just to find out who the best psychopath is.
  * Clavicus Vile – probably just that specific group, because, irony.
  * Hircine – as long as the hunt is entertaining I don’t think he cares who lives or dies.
  * Mehrunes Dagon – did you do as he ordered?
  * Namira – who can tell?
  * Peryite – probably would take offense if he hadn’t instructed you to deal with the rogue faction. As the “Taskmaster” he, doubtless, needs workers.
  * Sanguine – did you ruin one of his parties in the process?



So, given the evidence we have, it seems that the princes Boethiah and Sanguine, may, upon occasion, actively try to kill their own cultists.  Why?

Oddly enough Boethiah and Sanguine both require a functioning society to exist but their cults attract followers who threaten the vary society the princes feed off.  Boethiah, to the Dunmer at least, is the father of civilization but her more fanatical cultists are, almost by definition, dangerous psychopaths who, unchecked, might “unlawfully overthrow” _every_ authority they come in contact with thereby destroying everything the daedra has created.  Sanguine is all about escaping the repression of civilized society.  However, without society telling people what _not_ to do Sanguin’s influence would be greatly diminished.  Unfortunately setting people free to embrace their true nature is going to result in some of those people being profoundly disruptive to the well-ordered and repressive society that Sanguine feeds off of.  This is, I believe, the microcosm of why Boethiah and Sanguine have been seen, in-game, to turn on their own cultists.

Sermon Thirty-Two from The Thirty-Six Lessons of Vivec, however, suggests a macrocosm reason for this behavior:

> Eighth:  ‘But then why, you ask, do the Daedra wish to meddle with the Aurbis?  It is because **they are the radical critique** , essential as all martyrs.

The daedra, and everything they do, Vivec argues, function as a sort of critical systems analysis for Creation.  Is it possible, then, that part of Sanguine’s role, in the greater functioning of the Aurbis, is to identify persons such as Naris the Wicked and reveal them for the monsters they are in order to bring about their end?  That he and Boethiah see themselves as being, at least partially, involved in a sort of _extreme_ early recognition, and harm reduction, program meant to maintain the stability of the sandbox in which they play?

Possibly.

 

* * *

 

Sanguine: Real World Influence

It is not a secret that Sanguine strongly resembles the ancient Greek god Dionysus – god of wine, fertility, madness, religious ecstasy, liberation from social constraints (including slavery7), and rebirth.  Truthfully though the cult of Sanguine in Cyrodiil seems to more closely resemble the Roman cult of Bacchus – god of agricultural fertility, excess, and wine – who did not become conflated with Dionysus until the _late_ Roman period.  But, hey, Cyrodiil = Rome, we get it.

Anyway, here are some facts about Dionysus (not Bacchus) that are relevant to my treatment of Sanguine.

  1. Dionysus married – and deified – the Cretan princess Ariadne (the same one that helped Jason kill the Minotaur) to whom he was _remarkably_ faithful throughout their marriage (an attested part of his cult for over a thousand years).
  2. Only two of his children – born after their marriage – are not hers, which is a practically unheard of level of marital fidelity from a fertility-god of _any_ pantheon. (Consider his father, Zeus, as a more common archetype of fertility-god behavior.)
  3. Unlike Bacchus, who is the quintessential sloppy drunk, about the sloppiest Dionysus ever gets (in iconography) is allowing the top part of his toga to slip off his shoulder and into his lap.  While his worshipers, often pictured around him, may be thoroughly inebriated (and chasing people around with giant phalluses8) the god himself usually appears slightly removed from the actual festivities he is presiding over, often appearing more as an amused – social drinking – observer than an active participant. 



The Romans – and that amazing ability of any imperial power to get absolutely everything they borrow from someone else ever-so-slightly, but often critically, wrong – eventually conflated the cults of (Roman) Bacchus and (Greek) Dionysus, which means everything I just said about the iconography of Dionysus doesn’t necessarily hold true after about the 1stCentury CE.  (I really do love the Romans, they’re hilarious, but, in an attempt to be somewhat fair to them, I should note that many of the surviving texts we use to study late Roman culture are satirical in nature.9 Sadly, since the early Christians purposefully destroyed most of the texts the Roman satirists were satirizing, understanding what the authors were getting at is not always easy.10)

Still, my general point is, Dionysus is not Bacchus and that Dionysus was a much more nuanced god than most modern people give him credit for.  So I will be handling Sanguine in a similar fashion.

 

 **Side Note:**   Dionysus is also one of the only gods I know of who was, themselves, a priest of another god.  In his case he was a priest of the goddess Kybele – the Mother of Mountains, Mistress of the Animals, and lover of a dead god (sound like anyone from TES?).  0.0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 The Book of Daedra
> 
> 2 His Skyrim quest is easily ignored (unlike, say, Meridia’s) with no hard feelings.
> 
> 3 Stress is bad for people, right? Yes Sanguine, stress is bad for people, but so is skooma.
> 
> 4 Self-image is funny like that.
> 
> 5 Conjurer 1 “They drink all day and night, and what do I do?”  
> Conjurer 2 “[sigh] You work the forge.”  
> Conjurer 1 “I work the forge. Why do they need me to do this? We use magic, not weapons. I swear, they’re making me do this for a laugh. [pause] At least they’re not making me deal with the prisoners down below.”  
> Conjurer 2 “Yeah, I don’t know how I feel about what goes on down there.”  
> Conjurer 1 “I bet Naris gets a kick out of it. Nasty fella he is.”  
> Conjurer 2 “You’d better quiet down before you end up there. Then I’d have to work the forge.”
> 
> 6 Speculative but it makes sense within the logic of TES lore.
> 
> 7 Before you yell at me for calling slavery a “social constraint” please understand that ‘slave’ is the common English translation of no fewer than five ancient Greek legal terms (more depending on exact location and time period) each of which indicated a different level of personal autonomy. These terms cover everything from the relationship between a master and their apprentice, a craftsman and their patron, master and servant, a landowner and surf, a parent and child, and actual chattel slavery (usually only applied to prisoners of war). On the flip side, the ancient Greek concept of what was necessary to be a “free man” was ridiculously strict (like anyone who owed a debt – of any kind – wasn’t considered free). Which may be part of why celebrations that allowed people to flout the insanely strict social structure for a day were widely embraced.
> 
> 8 It’s a fertility god thing.
> 
> 9 Please remember this if you ever read something written by Ovid, Aristophanes, or Apuleius (to name only the most commonly misconstrued authors). *cough-chough* THEY ARE SATIRISTS! *cough-cough* You can’t take anything they say at face value.
> 
> 10 Early Christians saved the Roman satirical works to use them as proof of the degeneracy, and immorality, of the religion and culture they were attempting to replace. (So your roommate’s Gender Studies professor, who wants to talk seriously about the cultural implications of gender-swapping in Roman literature, may well be just the latest in a long list of people who have failed to take into consideration the genre of the work they are discussing.)


	6. Who is the God Talos?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiber Septim became Talos who is Trinimac.

“The Stormcrown mantled by way of the fourth: the steps of the dead.  Mantling and incarnation are separate roads; do not mistake this.  The latter is built from the cobbles of drawn-bone destiny. The former: walk like them until they must walk like you.”  (Nu-Hatta of the Sphinxmoth Inquiry Tree)

We learn from this that Tiber Septim became a god via the fourth walking way “the steps of the dead” not incarnation, which means he became a new version of an old god.  But which god did he become?  The answer, it seems, has been staring us all in the face since we first walked past Heimskr and wondered if he’d ever stop yelling: the statue of Talos clearly identifies the god he replaced as Trinnimac.

Trinimac (male mer in golden armor) is best known for having been the one to force Lorkhan (snake) to the ground before removing his heart.1 In Skyrim Talos is depict as a man in golden armor who has forced a large snake to the ground, and is holding it there with his foot, as he prepares to deliver a finishing blow.  Talos is also, in these statues, depicted as wearing a winged helmet.  The Nords wear _horned_ helmets.  It is the Altmer who wear winged helmets.  In this way every statue of Talos, throughout Skyrim, portrays Talos as a Nord version of the Altmer warrior god Trinimac.

This conclusion is further supported by the “obscure text” Shor son of Shor which states that Trinimac – at the time of the events being described – has become a Nord.

"Trinimac left Dibella in his tent as we assembled, and he had not touched her, frozen in the manner of the Nords when we are unsure of our true place, and asked his brother to rearm him.  Stuhn was confused for a moment, thinking this an odd shift, but Mara… [told] him that such Totems here in the twilight could now be trusted."   (Shor son of Shor, [link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/shor-son-shor-full))

Struhn, I think, can be forgiven for thinking that Trinimac becoming a Nord, and changing sides in the ongoing battle, is “an odd shift” but Mara’s response about “here in the twilight” is of greater interest.

According to a TESV: Skyrim design document, released by Michael Kirkbride under the title of “The Nords’ Totemic Religion”:

"The gods are cyclical, just like the world is.  There are the Dead Gods, who fought and died to bring about the new cycle; the Hearth Gods, who watch over the present cycle; the Testing Gods, who threaten the Hearth and thus are watched; and the **Twilight** Gods, who usher in the next cycle.  The end of a cycle is said to be preceded by the Dragonborn God, a god that did not exist in the previous cycle but whose presence means that the current one is almost over." ([link](http://michaelkirkbride.tumblr.com/post/128602974278/excerpt-from-a-tesv-skyrim-design-document-with))

Please note that the document from which this quote is taken is very clearly written from a Nord perspective, not a designer perspective, and so while the information in it illustrates Nord beliefs its comments on the functioning of the world may not be accurate.  For example: the text makes no mention of new non-Nord gods.  But we know that Vivec, for instance, managed to become a god, and to remain as such, unlike the rest of the Tribunal or Mannimarco (who, it seems, got un-goded by the jill2).  Still, since the same sort of bias can be seen in Shor son of Shor the one text can be used to shed some light on the other.  Therefore we can conclude that the change in Trinnimac has something to do with these events occurring in the “twilight” of a kalpa.

Additionally, it should be noted that, while the Nords of the Fourth Era may presume that Talos, as a dragonborn who has become a god, is the “Dragonborn God” of this cycle, he cannot be.  As someone who mantled via the steps of the dead Tiber Septim could only become a god that had already existed in this kalpa.  So the “Dragonborn God” of this cycle – if the Nords are right about them being a _new_ god – must be someone else. Anyway, the point is, that Talos is the only person to both achieve godhood during the “twilight” and to be recognized as a god by the Nords and so is likely the “Trinimac” mentioned in Shor son of Shor.

So how did an Atmoran dragonborn emperor attaining godhood make him a Nord reinstantiation of the Altmer god Trinimac rather than his own, shiny, new, deity?  Well, mantling via the steps of the dead requires that you be _more_ like the god than they are: “walk like them until they must walk like you”.  The fact that the entity that had been Trinimac, having become Malacath, currently wasn’t much like Trinimac at all would, undoubtedly, have made taking Trinimac’s, empty, place in the Aurbic structure somewhat easier.  But what was that place?

Trinimac’s greatest act was the removal of Lorkhan’s heart.  This action lead to the creation of "… Red Tower and the First Stone.  This allowed the Mundus to exist without the full presence of the divine."3 As a warrior god whose actions allowed for the continued existence of the Mundus, Trinimac had held the Aurbic position of a warrior who lengthened the time between Creation and Destruction.

Tiber Septim, by the end of his life, had melded at least four Shezarrine souls with his dragon soul making him an Akatosh-Lorkhan amalgam; a fusion of two, out of three, manifestations of a single Aurbic force: Time/Change.  It also – since he lacked any essence of the third manifestation of Time/Change (the destroyer) – made Talos a manifestation of the tiidunslaad – season-unending – meaning both “time without end” and “war” the same set of functions, as we have just seen, that had previously belonging to Trinimac.  And that, very briefly, is how Tiber Septim came to mantel Trinimac.

 

 

**Side Note:**  
"Trinimac is probably one of the least understood underpinnings of the whole pantheon.  I like him that way, but I would study Mithras if you really want to find out more." (Michael Kirkbride - Reddit AMA)

I will spare you a discussion of how Trinimac is Elder Scrolls Mithras (or save it for another time) but I thought you might find this little tidbit interesting.  Typically when Mithras’ cult sites were converted by Christians for their own use the resulting churches were dedicated to either St. Michael (mostly in the Eastern Church) or St. George (mostly in the Western Church).

How likely is it that this is an accident?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 The Monomyth
> 
> 2 “The Jills of Aka-tosh have mended this numidition. Mannimarco remains as he was: the high priest of maggots.” (Nu-Hatta of the Sphinxmoth Inquiry Tree)
> 
> 3 Nu-Mantia Intercept, Letter #5


	7. Hearts & Phylacteries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ripping out hearts is something of a recurring theme in TES.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first draft of this discussion got rather complicated as TES has not been completely standardized, throughout all the games, books, and developer Q&A sessions etc., in the use of terms like “soul” and “spirit”. So, for clarity of argument, I am going to define a few terms. If an in-game text, or developer quote, uses a term in a manner inconsistent with my definition, I will add my defined term, in brackets. Decisions will be based on larger context of the quote. Location of said quote will be linked in footnotes to allow you to check the context yourself.
> 
>  **Vitality** : Life-Energy, the part of a soul used to power enchantments, magic energy.  
>  **Spirit** : That part of a soul that makes it an individual; its memory and personality, that part of the soul that is acquired by the Ideal Masters or passes on to an afterlife.  
>  **Soul** : the combination of both “spirit” and “vitality” that exists within a living being.  
>  **Vestige** : that essential part of a daedra that returns to Oblivion when it is slain and around which its body reforms. (Definition taken from Chaotic Creatia: The Azure Plasm)  
>  **Phylactery** : a physical vessel that contains a creature’s soul. (Definition taken from Soul Trapping I: An Introduction)

 

**Soul-trapping is the art of taking a creature’s soul upon death and confining it in an appropriately-sized phylactery. (Soul Trapping I: An Introduction)**

There is significant evidence in TES lore that, when one does not have a soul gem handy, a creature’s heart can be used as a container for one, or more, parts of their soul.

  1. The Heart of Lorkhan is the most obvious proof of a heart’s ability to contain a being’s vitality – even after death – as it was supposed to be the power source for the Numidium and, later, tapping it allowed for the use of divine power by the Tribunal.
  2. The “Rite of the Wolf Giver” requires a werewolf exchange an innocent person’s life for their own freedom.2  An exchange that suggests, given Hircine’s thoughts on fairness, that the innocent person’s spirit has been condemned to the Hunting Grounds in place of the werewolf’s. As the innocent person’s heart is an integral part of this process it appears a heart can be used to gain control over a person’s spirit.
  3. A Daedra Heart is required to create daedric armor – an armor set that gets its bonuses over regular ebony armor by being infused with a daedra - indicating that a daedra’s vestige can also be contained within, or magically accessed via, its heart.
  4. In ESO the note “Heart of Zandadunoz” tells us that the Titan’s “heart transformed into a phylactery, supposedly capable of recalling the titan from Oblivion to once again threaten the Orsimer.”  Which suggest a daedra’s heart can be used to gain control over its _entire_ being, not just its vitality or vestige.



So it is clear that, in TES, a being’s heart is, in some way, naturally imbued with, or connected to, all parts of their being and that, under the right conditions, the connection can persist even after death.  More specifically Neloth, when discussing briarhearts, tells the Last Dragonborn that a briarheart is created by detaching the “soul-thread” from their heart, and knotting it “three times, once for the heart, once for the spirit, and once for the body,” before attaching the soul-thread to the briar heart seed.  From this it appears that a being’s heart is not _naturally_ a repository for a spirit – like a black soul gem appears to be – (as the spirit and heart are given different knots) but the repository for a being’s _vitality_ and the material anchor to which their spirit is tethered via a “soul-thread”.  

While the difference between soul-anchor and phylactery aren’t, apparently, all that functionally different – from a game perspective – from a lore perspective the difference could not be more important.  Consider, for instance, the implications of each spirit having its own string that tethers it to the mortal realm and the meaning that might have for tonal architecture, the disappearance of the Dwemer, and the apotheosis of the Tribunal.  What would happen if these strings were plucked? 

Thought experiments aside, if hearts really are the natural repository for a being’s vitality then we should see evidence of them being used, like soul gems, as magical batteries. There is, in TES lore, at least one, rather extreme, example of this: the Numidium, which used the Heart of Lorkhan as a power source.  So what does this mean for living creatures, like Forsworn briarhearts, who’ve replaced their hearts with something else?

The immediate result, of replacing a person’s heart with a briar heart seed, according to Neloth, is that it “puts their life-sparks in direct connection to the natural forces.” Neloth then adds: “The knots give the connection a strength that may be the key that I’ve been looking for.” Taken together he seems to be saying that these “knots” in their soul threads allow Forsworn briarhearts to draw upon a _greater_ pool of vitality than the normal body/soul connection can withstand thereby imbuing them with super-human abilities.  Furthermore Neloth clearly believes that it should be possible to do the same with heart stones – giving the recipient access to the “forces of the Red Mountain” – a feat he clearly believes will result in a being of even greater power than a briarheart (whose life-spark is only grafted to “natural forces”).  The point here lies in the difference between the relative power of the earthbone Ehlnofey (aka the “natural forces”) and the et’Ada whose heart existed within Red Mountain for long enough to infuse the stones of the mountain with the et’Ada’s power.  In a very real sense Neloth, like so many others before him, is attempting to _safely_ tap the Heart of Lorkhan for his own, personal, empowerment.

What I am uncertain of is how much tethering a person’s soul to an inhuman force might change them _beyond_ gifting them with greater vitality.  While Ildari Sarothril’s heart stone heart gave her new, apparently innate, abilities she also experienced constant pain, which she is quick to blame on Neloth’s “butchery”.  I, however, am less certain. Rather it seems likely to me that the constant pain Ildari experienced wasn’t, necessarily, her own.  Her spirit was tethered to a stone imbued with the essence of Lorkhan’s disembodied heart the removal of which was the primal wail of pain without which all creation would not exist.  That she would experience continuous pain as a result of this situation seems only logical. It also seems unlikely that anything could be done to ameliorate it.

As the anchor for a person’s soul-thread it seems reasonable to further assume that magic could be used upon a heart to cause that connection to the spirit to be maintained even after death.  In this way possession of a person’s heart would give a necromancer access to the person’s spirit, much as a phylactery would, allowing them to determine it’s destination in the afterlife.  A circumstance we say played out in the “Rite of the Wolf Giver”.  So, given that a heart can act as a “phylactery” (a vessel to which both parts of a soul are bound), we should also see phylacteries that act as “hearts” (repositories of vitality).  And we do.  Every white soul gem is one.

Under these conditions one would think that white soul gems could be used in a similar fashion to briar heart seeds but I know of no example of such a thing.  It is possible that, because a standard soul gem cannot hold more vitality than is common to mortals, there is no reason to attempt such a thing as no increase in vitality would be achieved.  Simply using larger gems that can hold more than one soul, however, doesn’t seem to be the answer, as one cannot, currently, use several souls to fill a soul gem.  There are, however, implications that it _should_ be possible even if the technique is currently unknown.

  1. Enchanted weapons can be recharged from multiple soul gems.
  2. The TES V Enchanting perk “Soul Siphon” allows the partial refilling of weapons from multiple sources.
  3. Azura’s Star, though usually only capable of holding one soul at a time, while inhabited by Malyn Varen is capable of holding at least two souls simultaneously.A fact we have confirmed for us is not unique to the dragonborn, due to Azura’s assistance in entering the Star, when Malyn greets the dragonborn by saying “Ah, my disciples have sent me a fresh soul.  Good.  I was getting... hungry,” indicating that the Star _is_ capable of being filled again with a soul still in it, if only you know the proper technique.
  4. Dragonborn can absorb the souls of multiple dragons.



So it is possible that the real issue with using a soul gem like a briar heart seed, the reason there are no examples, is an issue of technique, or materials, not of theoretical impossibility.  It is also possible that whatever the interaction between a Soul Trap spell and a soul gem is it alters the vitality it traps such that it becomes inappropriate for use by a living being.  This I find not unlikely as one also does not find intelligent undead with black soul gems at their hearts.  Liches use an entirely different form of phylactery to contain their souls while they transition into undeath.2

There is, however, one famous example of a multiply filled soul gem being used as the “heart” a _construct_. The Mantella was a giant green gem Zurin Arctus created to replace the missing Heart of Lorkhan as the power source for the Numidium.  The Mantella, itself, was constructed specifically to contain a shezarrine “oversoul” (a soul that contained two or more pieces of Lorkhan’s power).  In this way it would combine the vitality of several lesser fragments of Lorkhan and so, hopefully, approximate Lorkhan’s own heart and the power required to activate, and run, the Numidium.  In the end the Mantella likely absorbed not only the vitality of Wulfharth - who had been born a shezarrine and become a shezarrine oversoul when he came in contact with the Heart of Lorkhan at the battle of Red Mountain – but the vitality of Zurin Arctus (and possibly Hjalti Early-Beard3) as well.4 Since this feat has never been repeated we must assume the higher knowledge of how soul-siphoning works, that made it possible, was a discovery of Zurin Arctus’ that he never shared.  A discovery he likely made by studying the abilities of a dragonborn.

Speaking of dragonborn, Neloth’s attempt bind a person’s soul to a piece of a god’s heart is, strangely enough, not unprecedented.  It would be remiss, in a discussion of hearts and phylacteries, not to mention the curious case of the Amulet of Kings.  The amulet began life as the Chim-El Adabal: the Tower Stone of the White-Gold Tower.  Sources – though not necessarily reliable ones – suggest the gem was cut from a crystal, found in an Ayleid well, that had become suffused with a drop of Lorkhan’s blood.5  As an artifact empowered both by the starlight condensed by the well6 and the blood of Lorkahn it was the perfect object for representing the “Heart of the World” in the “megafetish”7 of Mundus that was, and is, the White-Gold Tower.8  In this way the Chim-El Adabal was a myth-echo of the Heart of Lorkhan  _long_ before it came into Alessia’s hands.  The recreation was so complete that, like the heart of Zandadunoz, the amulet was a phylactery that could be used to summon a physical manifestation of Akatosh, which Martin Septim did to end the Oblivion Crisis.

When Alessia took the White-Gold Tower Akatosh, or Lorkhan (accounts vary), gave her the Chim-El Adabal (his heart) and bound her spirit to it.  This, as she now had a phylactery that was the heart of a dragon-god, is how Alessia became “dragonborn” and how her spirit became permanently entrapped within the Amulet of Kings. 

And that, my friends, concludes this short survey of hearts, and the various forms they take, in TES.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 Much like in Falion’s cure for vampirism.  
> 2 Unhallowed Legions, The Path of Unhallowed Transcendence  
> 3 More info on this possibility discussed in a chapter of Not Drake But Jill: Act 3.  
> 4 The Arcturian Heresy and Skeleton Man’s Interview with Denizens of Tamriel  
> 5 Chim-el Adabal: A Ballad  
> 6 Magic from the Sky  
> 7 Nu-Mantia Intercept, Letter #8  
> 8 See discussion of the White-Gold Tower in my section on the Towers… when I get around to posting it. So much lore so little time.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> #### Works Cited
> 
> Chaotic Creatia: The Azure Plasm, ESO ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/chaotic-creatia-azure-plasm))  
> Chim-el Adabal: A Ballad, ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/chim-el-adabal-ballad))  
> Letter from the Underking, TES II: Daggerfall ([link](https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Letter_from_the_Underking))  
> The Arcturian Heresy, ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/arcturian-heresy))  
> The Path of Transcendence, TES IV: Oblivion ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/path-transcendence))  
> Magic from the Sky, ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/magic-sky))  
> Nu-Mantia Intercept: Letter #8, ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/nu-mantia-intercept-letter-8))  
> Soul Trapping I: An Introduction, ESO ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/soul-trapping-i-introduction))  
> Unhallowed Legions, ESO ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/unhallowed-legions))
> 
> Skeleton Man’s Interview with Denizens of Tamriel, Interview 2010 ([link](https://www.imperial-library.info/content/interviews-skeleton-man))


	8. Love Letter from the 5th Era

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Very Quick Summary

The author of the letter, Jubal-lun-Sul, is a fifth era Dunmer, who writes to the people of the fourth era in the hope that an event called “Landfall” can be prevented and the timeline he lives in will never come to pass.

The issue with avoiding Landfall is that it was/will be brought about by those who misunderstand the reality of the world - believe that permanently destroying Nirn will free the souls trapped within it.  Jubal-lun-Sul attempts to dispel this myth explaining the meaning of Vivec’s Sermon 35 and how it applies to the situation.  Here’s the breakdown:

_“All creation is subgradient.”_  
Subgradient methods are iterative methods for solving convex minimization problems.1  
Translation: all creation is an iterative method to solve a problem or answering a question.  Therefore the world, and everything in it, is a simulation or a dream. 

The dreamer continues to dream, kalpa cycle to kalpa cycle, because of its love for the world.   
Destroy the world permanently – instigate Landfall and the centuries of destruction that follow – and the dreamer will eventually wake and the dream, and everyone in it, will cease to be.  Therefore instigating Landfall is not a path to life everlasting.

Death is not something to avoid.  Everything on Mundus is “recycled” i.e. people, like the world, are reincarnated in each kalpa.2  
 _“This should be seen as an opportunity, and in no way tedious, though some will give up for it is easier to kiss the lover than become one.”  
_ Each kalpa gives everyone on Nirn another chance to “make the jump past mortal death.” 

The only way to make this jump is to become an Amaranth i.e. to achieve such a profound understanding of the way the system works that you can dream, and love, a world of your own.  
 _“… Amaranth, everlasting hypnogogic.  Hallucinations become lucid under His eye and therefore, like all parents of their children, the Amaranth cherishes and adores all that is come from Him._

_I ARE ALL WE._

_God is Love._

_COME TO THE HOUSE OF WE._

_God is Love._

_ONE WORLD IN SPIRIT I AM._

_God is Love.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 Thanks Wikipedia! 
> 
> 2 Unless they Zero-Sum but that’s part of a much longer conversation.


End file.
